Articles tagged “brian chesky”

Brian Chesky's $120 million stock grant may rankle many, but he's pledging to contribute $100 million of it to a host endowment fund.

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said what the company's customers really want are unique stays and experiences offered by individual hosts. That means expanding Airbnb's hotel business doesn't seem to be the priority it once was. And, oh yeah, the proliferation of corporate hosts like Sonder and others, doesn't mesh with what Chesky believes travelers desire.

Airbnb is smart to focus on its core accommodations' business, if that is indeed what it is really doing. The company has time to deal with all of the other stuff, from flights to hotels and experiences, once a real-life travel recovery has a pulse.

The Airbnb Host Endowment wouldn't turn hosts into investors in the IPO. But by earmarking 9.2 million shares to fund the endowment, it may counteract the feeling among a few hosts that going public would only benefit elite investors and employees. It's a clever and creative move by Airbnb, but more fundamental host issues remain.

Special purpose acquisition company, direct listing or an initial public offering — Airbnb's choice mostly matters to big-name investors and employees, past and present. But nothing is ever certain about a stock market listing — especially during a pandemic.

The proverbial handwriting is on the wall for Airbnb, Facebook, Google, Tripadvisor, and Yelp, among others. The regulators are coming! The regulators are coming!

Can Airbnb be less of a real estate play and more of a facilitator of human connections? That is Brian Chesky's stated vision. But will that sales pitch sell with Wall Street?

Airbnb's Chesky undoubtably still has that S-1 document in a laptop somewhere. With the pandemic lowering Airbnb's valuation by billions, that document will need a total rewrite. And with all that's going on in the world, it's difficult to even contemplate an eventual public listing right now.